The Forum’s Side Event at the JPA in France

The forthcoming Africa-EU and Africa-U.S summits in April and August 2014 respectively should provide the EU and the U.S with an opportunity to reflect on their respective relationships with Africa. The EU in particular is not only providing the bulk of financial aid to African states, but also financially supporting blocs like SADC and the AU. The EU should therefore use these summits as a platform to demand more accountability from individual nations but also from the African regional blocs.

The side event will therefore be an opportunity for concerned parliamentarians to call for respect for human rights and democratic principles to underpin all the Africa-EU cooperation instruments. In particular, the event will be a platform;

For parliamentarians from the ACP countries, Africa in particular, to share best practice in promoting democratic values in their home parliaments in order to counter the current democratic retreat across the continent.

Explore how the ACP-EU parliamentarians could use the provisions of the Cotonou Agreement to address these new challenges

Suggest ways EU MEPs could urgently raise these issues with their respective home governments and for immediate tabling during the forthcoming Summit (“JAES”).